Preface

This edition supersedes the fourth edition of Indonesia: A Country
Study, published in 1983 under the editorship of Frederica M. Bunge. It
provides updated information on the world's fourth most populous nation
and the world's largest Muslim population. Although much of what was
reported in 1983 has remained the same in regard to traditional behavior
and organizational dynamics, regional events have continued to shape
Indonesian domestic and international policies.%

To avoid confusion over the pronunciation of Indonesian names and
terms, the revised spelling of Indonesian names, known as ejaan yang
disempurnakan (perfected spelling), generally is used in the book.
Although Sukarno used the Dutch spelling of his name-- Soekarno--during
his lifetime, he himself recognized that official use required the use
of "u" rather than "oe" in his name. In keeping with
this line of thinking, this edition uses "u," the
pronunciation of which will be more familiar to English-speaking users
of this book, instead of "oe" in Sukarno, Suharto, and other
personal names. The spelling of contemporary place-names conforms with
the system used by the United States Board on Geographic Names.
Indonesian spellings are given for all province names, such as Jawa
Tengah (Central Java). Similarly, the names Sumatera Utara (North
Sumatra) and Sumatera Selatan (South Sumatra) are used to refer to
provinces on the island of Sumatra. Conventional spellings of names,
such as Java, East Java, Central Java, and West Java, are used when
referring to the entire island or its eastern, central, or western
regions.